Safety apparatus for railroads.



C. A. BROOKS.

SAFETY APPARATUS FOR RAILROADS.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 16. 1914.

Patented Apr. 10, 1917.

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SAFETY APPARATUS FOR RAILROADS.

APPLICATION FILED NOV-16.19I4.

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SAFETY APPARATUS FDR RAILROADS.

APPLICATION FILED NOV-16.1914.

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Patented Apr. 10, 1917.

C. A. BROOKS.

SAFETY APPARATUS FOR RAILROADS.

APPLICATION FILED NOV- [6.1914- Patented Apr. 10, 1917.

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SAFETY APPARATUS FOR RAILROADS.

APPLICATION FILED NOV-16.19M-

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CLAYTON A. BROOKS, or GIRARD, PENNSYLVANIA.

SAFETY APPARATUS FOR RAILROADS.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Apr. 10, 1917.

Application filed November 16, 1914. Serial No. 872,401.

To all whom it may concern;

Be it known that I, CLA 'roN A. BRooKs, a citizen of the United States, residing at Girard, in the county of Erie and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Safety Apparatus for Railroads; and'I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will en able others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make anduse the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, forming part ofthis specification.

My invention relates to safety apparatus and devices for railroads adapted to be automatically operated to stop the train when the speed thereof exceeds the pro-determined maximum, or which may be used to stop a train at a desired station-stop.

The object of my invention is to combine in an operative apparatus a piston mechanism adapted to be actuated by air to release the engineers lever, open an air-release valve, and,close the throttle-valve; an automatic pressure controlled valve adapted-to be automatically closed whenthe pressure in the train-pipe has been reduced the desired amount; a valve to control the admission of air to said pistonmechanism and the exhaust therefrom; a governor-controlled speed-selective mechanism adapted to operate the said admission valve; and axtrip mechanism adapted to remain at a uniform elevation with relation to the rail-way track.

In my application for patent filed February 10th, 1914:, Serial No. 817,802, I have shown, described and claimed an apparatus which, in operation is designed to produce similar results to those produced by the ap: paratus shown and described in this application, but the several mechanisms of the apparatus of my present invention differ in construction and operation from the corresponding parts of the apparatus shown and described in my former application.

The features of my invention are hereinafter fullyexplained and pointed out, and are illustrated. in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a diagrammaticview of a portion of my apparatus, showing the associated mechanisms thereof in, section.

Fig. 2, is a top or plan view of the throttle-valve. operating mechanism of my invention.

Fig. 3, is a rear end view thereof with a portion broken away.

Fig. 4, is a sectional view of'the butter-fly valve used in my apparatus. 7

Fig. 5, is a transverse section on the broken" line o o, in Fig. 2, looking in the direction of the arrow.

Fig. 6, is a transverse view of the speedselective mechanism on the broken line w, in Fig. 1, looking in the direction of the arrow.

Fig. 7, is'a top or plan view of the same, with the cover broken away.

Fig. 8, is a side view of a portion of the same, showing electro-magnetic mechanism for actuating the same under certain conditions.

Fig. 9, is a sectional View of the opposite side of the speed-selective mechanism of my invention, showing the electric connections and electro-magnetic mechanism.

Fig. 10, is a side elevation of a portion of the same.

Fig. 11, is a side elevation of my improved A trip actuated mechanism. v I

Fig. 12,. is a rear end view of the same sectional on the line mzv, in Fig. 1 3.

Fig. 13, is a top or plan view of the same sectional on the line zz in Fig. 12.

In these drawings A, indicates a portion of alocomotive boiler; A, indicates a throt-, tle valve-stem; A indicates a cylinder into which the valve-stem A, extends, and which is supported upon a bracket a, secured upon the boiler A; and within the cylinder A there is a piston A which is adapted to contact with the valve-stem A. Upon the rear end of the cylinder A I" secure a housing A*', which closes the rear end of the cylinder A and has therein a valve cavity 0., from which an opening a, communicates with the interior of the cylinder A Within the valve cavity a, I place a valve A, which is provided with a groove a, in the side thereof, extending .from the opening 6%, to the upper end of said valve, so that air within the cylinder A may pass out through said groove when the valve A, is in the position shown in" Fig. 1. From the lower end of the valve cavity a, an opening leads into a pipe connection a". At the upper end ofthe valve A there is a stem (1?, which extends upward through a bracket A, and between said bracket A, and; said valve'there is a spring I through the upper end of which yoke the upper .end. of said latch-bolt extends, and upon this latch-bolt between said disk-like collar-a and the yoke a I place a spring. a", which operates to force the latch-bolt A into its notch in the valve-stem A. When the latch-bolt A is in its notch in the valvestem A the valve-stem A, can be operated by meansofthe engineers lever a, in the usual manner.. Mounted. along-side of the cylinder A there isa rock-lever A", one end a, (see Figs. 2 and 3) ofwhich projects over the upper end of the valve A and the other end of said rocklever A extends over the latch block A, under the disk-collar a, so that when the valve A, moves upward, it actuates the rock-lever A", to ralse the latch-bolt A out of engagement with the valve-stem A, so that the latch-block A", willslide freely on the valve-stem A, and thus it will be impossible for the engineerto operate the valve-stem by means of his lever a. Above the bracket A, I place an airrelease valve-housing B, having seated in the bottom thereof, and concentric with, the

valve A a valve B, adapted to be raised ofl of its seat by the stem a", when the valve AF, israised upward. The valve-housing B, is provided with a pipec'onnection b, whichcommunicates ,with the interior there:

of. The housing B,-is supported in position by means oiia bracketB secured to the housing A From the pipeconnection. b, on the air:release-valve-housing B, a ,pipe 1 leads tothe train pipe. 2,.through an automatic pressure regulated, valve-housing C.

This valve-housing C, is provided {with a valve-seat opening C, upon which a valve, 0', operates. The ,valve C is provided with stems cand p. Inthe housing ,0, I provide an j s i s w and. between said Screw ndh m 0, 1. place aspring is provided with a diaphragm -chamber.

C}, in whichthere is secured a diaphragm C toywhich the valve-stem c, is secured.

' throughwthe pipes 3 andsflg withthe-main air pipe 5,; so that .when. air from the train -pipej2', has passed through I pipe 1, and the e-*ho gic, unt l a. suflicie t-amount.

has esca ed to reducelthe pressure on the valve-sid of the diaphra air on the opposite side 0 the diaphragm to C to. allow the,

press the spring 0 backward and close the valve C the escape of air from the train pipe 2, will be automatically stopped.

The valve-housing A", is connected to the main air supply p1pe 5, by means of the pipes 6 and 7, through a valve-housing D. This valve-housing is provided with two valve-chambers D and D the chamber D,

communicating with the pipe 6, and the ber D I mount a bell-crank-lever D one arm of Which is secured to the valve-stem d Pivoted upon the other arm of said lever D is a valve-stem (i which extends through a valve-opening d", in the wall of the chamber D the outer end of the valve-stem (Z is pivoted to a lever D which lever is pivoted to cars 01*, on the outside of the chamber D Upon the valve-stem d I place a valve D 7 adapted to seat upon the valve-seat opening d By operating the lever D the valve D is closed upon its seat (1 and the valve d, raised off of its seat d, so that air can pass from the pipe 6, through the chambers.

D and D into the pipe 7 It may be found desirable to provide the valve-stem (Z and valve D with a resilient support D, so that after the valve D is seated upon its seat 01 the valve stem 03, may be moved a little farther, and thus avoid breakage.

E, indicates the usual engineers air valve.

In the pipe 4, leading from the main air supply pipe 5, through the engineers valve E, to the train pipe 2, I place an ordinary butter-fly valve E, (see Fig. 4) and I provide mechanism for operating said valve, consisting of a, cylinder E which communi cates with the pipe 7, by means of the pipe 8. In this cylinder-there is a piston e, the piston-rod e, of which is connected with the arm 6 of-the butter-fly valve E. I also provide a spring 6 to maintainthie piston and valve in the. normally open position .shown in Figs. 1; and 4. Bymeans of this valve E, and its operating mechanism, when .=air is admitted into the pipe 7, it also enters t .,the cylinder E through the pipe 8, and the The opposite end of the valve-housing (3,

E, so .thatcommunication from .the main air supply ipe 5, through the pipe 4, is closed a by said. utterfly valve E, so that the pres- Theg d aphragm chamber 0%, gon nnunicates sure in the train pipe 2, can be reduced by .theopening of the airescape valve B.

'For operating. the lever D to open the valve, d, and close the valve D I provide a rock-shaft F, which is mounted in the walls means of Upon the rock-shaft F, I secure a plurality of levers F preferably forked at their ends 7. On the a crank F 6 (see Figs. 6 and 10) and to the wrist-pin f, of this crank, which is olf of the center line of the crank, I secure one end of a spring 7, the other end of said spring being secured to a post f secured in the wall of the box-frame F. The. operation of the spring f being to retain lever F in its upward position as shown in Fig. 1, or when it is moved downward, as hereinafter described, to retain it in its: downward position, until it is manually returned to its up ward position, thereby maintaining the valve 03, open and the valve D closed until they are thus manually reversed. Vertically mounted in the box-frame F, there is a plurality of slidable rods G, G, G and G which rods are embraced by the forked ends of the arms F Upon each of said rods G, G, G and'G is secured a cross-arm g, which contacts with the upper side of the arms F The rod is provided with a rigid shoulder g. Upon the upper ends of the rods G, G, G and G there are heads 9 betw'een which and the top of the box-frame F, are springs for the purpose of maintaining said rods in a normally upward position as shown in Figs. 1 and 9. The rods G, G and G are provided with swinging bars G, the lower ends of which are pivoted to said rods by pivot-pins 9 (see Fig. 9). Between the lower ends of said bars G and the crossbars 9 I place springs 9 which operate to press the upper ends of the bars G, toward the rods G, G and G Slidably mounted in the rods G, G and G are transverse pins 9, provided with heads which are engaged by the upper ends of the bars G and are thereby pressed against the rods G, G and G and which heads limit the forward movement of said pins. The bars G are provided with shoulders 9 Upon the lower end of the rods G, G, G? and G I secure collars 9 to limit the upward movementof said rods. Adjacent to each of rods G, G, G and G I mount in said frame F, an-

other vertically slidable rod H, H, H and H each of which is provided with a head it, on the upper end thereof, and between said heads and the frame F, I place springs it to maintain said rods in their normally u ward position, as shown in Figs. 1 and 9.

pon the lower ends of said rods H I place collars k to limit the upward movement of said rods. Each of the rods H, H, H and H is provided with a transverse bar H*, which is preferably pivoted thereto and pro vided with a spring 7L thereby providing said cross bars H with a limited tippin movement when required during the upwar movement of said rods H. These cross bars end of the rock-shaft F, I place H, are adapted to engage the rigid shoulder g, on the rod G, and the shoulders 9 on the bars G when the rods H, are moved downward, under conditions hereinafter described, and thereby force the rods G, G, G and G to move downward in unison therewith, and thereby, through the arms F operate the valves d, and D as hereinbefore described. To the lower ends of the rods H, H, H and H are secured wires J (see Fig. 7) which are connected with trip mechanism hereinafter described, whereby each of said rods H, H, and H may be operated as described. The lower end of the rod H is connected to an electromagnetic device J (see Figs. 7 and 9) by which the same may be operated as hereinafter described.

Within the frame F, I nally slidable rods K, K which is in line with the G On one end of each of and K are flat heads 70, is, and against which the pins 9 contact. The rods K, K and K are provided with springs W, to normally maintain the heads Io, and 70 against the supports K of the rods K, K, and K which supports are secured upon the bottom of the frame F. Contacting with the other end of the rods K, K, and K there are vertical swing-bars, L, L, and L each of which is provided with a shoulder Z, for the purpose hereinafter described. Within the frame F, upon .vertical rods L, I slidably mount a plate L, which is provided with slots Z, and upon this plate L I adjustably secure vertical cam-bars Z Z and Z each having a cam surface Z thereon adapted to engage one of the shoulders Z, on one of the swinging bars L. These cam-bars are secured upon the plate L by means of stud-bolts Z", passing through the slots Z, in said plate, and the thumb-nuts-Z. To move the plate L vertically, I provide a centrifugal governor mechanism M, of ordinary construction, which is operated by the fieXible shaft M, through the gears M said shaft M, being connected to gears upon the trip mechanism hereinafter described. The cam-bars Z Z, and Z are vertically adjusted upon the plate L so that their camsurfaces Z will each'engage the shoulder Z, on its corresponding swinging bar L, and push its corresponding rod K, K or K forward and thereby move the corresponding shoulder corresponding transverse bar H when the governor mechanism M, is revolving at the relative speed for which said cam-bars are adjusted, so that when the trip mechanism hereinafter described is operated, while the train is moving at that rate of speed, to pull one of the rods H, H or H downward, its transverse bar H will engage the shoulder g, of the bar G which has been pushed mount longitudiand K each of rods G, G and 9, forward to be engaged by its these rods K, K,

G, G or that particular head permitted by a slowing the mechanism it down of the speed of the governor M, caused by the opening of the valve (1, and the admission of air therethrough into the cylinder A and the resulting setting of the train brakes as hereinbefore described. To'release is necessary to manually reverse the crank F (see Fig.' 10) .as hereinbefore described.

When the train reaches its speed limit the plate U, will be moved by the governor M, to its lowermost position, which will, through the cam-bar 1, swing bar L sliding rod K push the pin 9 and bar G*, as sociated-with the vertical rod G toward the vertical rod H so that the bar G*, will be engaged by the transverse'bar H, in the rod H At the same time the point I, on the plate U, will press one pole m, of an electrical contact down upon the other pole m, of said contact, and complete the circuit m through a generator and the electromagnetic device J which will then exert sufficient force upon the rod H to draw it downward and carry with it the rod G and thereby, through the arm F cause the valves d, and D to be operated to admit air to the throttle-valve closing mechanism hereinbefore described. For breaking the circuit m when the rod G is moved downthereof shown will engage the lever m and raise the plate mg thereby breaking the contact m to release the rod H and permit it to rise to its normal position.

L5, m, to separate, thereby breaking the circuit ward, and before the plate L releases the contact m, I have provided two terminal contact posts m which are bridged by a plate m contacting therewith. This plate m, is secured to a lever m pivoted upon a post we. Under the other end of the lever m, there is a spring m", to normallykeep the plate m, in contact with the contact terminals'm The transverse arm 9, on the rod G is provided with a lateral extension m, which, when said cross-bar is in the position by broken lines in 'Fig. 9,

Meanwhile, the speed of the train having been reduced, the governor M will raise the so as to allow the contacts m and at that point, and at the sametime the raising of theplate L through the intermediate lmi t the spring m,

mechanism will release the rod G and per- 'at the'terminal m thereby restoring said circuit to its original condition with but one break therein. The object of the break in is to avoid the continued use of the generator during the tive may compress to 'agaln close the circuit 4 gear N Upon avoid frequent renewals 'of the generator, as the work of the enerator is accomplished as soon as the rod. has been moved downward, and the arm F, operated thereby. It will'be understood that this electric apparatus is only operated when the train has exceeded its speed limit, solely by the action of the governor. It is likewise to be understood that the rods G and H, are operated only at station stops, without regard to any particular rate of speed, and are therefore not provided with'mechanism actuated by the governor for communicating their motion to the valves (1 and D but always operate those valves when they are moved downward.

In Flgs 11, 12 and 13, I have illustrated my improved trip mechanism the construction of which is as follows, viz

In a frame N, upon a shaft N, I mount a wheel N adapted to engage one of the rails 11., of the rail-road track. Upon the shaft N, I secure a miter-gear N. In the frame N, I mount a short shaft at right angles to said shaft N, upon miter-gear n which intermeshes with the the opposite end of said short shaft there is another miter-gear wheel n across one end of the frame 'N, there is a rod 0, by which the frame N, is hinged to the supporting arms 0 O, which are rigidly secured to the frame of a locomotive. The arms 0 O, are rovided with a crossbrace 0 (see Fig. 12 Upon the shaft 0, I mount miter-gear wheels 0 and 0, which "are connected by a sleeve 0 the wheel 0, of

which intermeshes with the gear M. J ournaled in the cross-brace O is the lower end of the governor-shaft M, upon which is secured a miter-gear wheel o so that as the wheel N travels along the rail n, the train of gears N n, 11?, 0, o, and 0 will, through the shaft M, operate the governor.

Mounted upon the rod 0, are bell-crank levers P, P, and P (see Fig. 13) to which the wires J, J and J ,which are connected to the rods G, G and G hereinbefore described (see Fig. 8). frame N, under the shaft N, are levers p, p and 10 which extend downward slightly above the upper faces of the rails 1.

Between the lower arms of the bell-crank levers P, P and P and the levers p, p and p, are pivoted connecting bars Q.

From the foregoing description of my improved traveling tripmechanism, it Wlll be seen that although the frame of the locomoits supporting springs more or less, and thereby be nearer to the tracks than .at other times, the distance from the bell-crank levers t0 the box-frame F,

of my apparatusnever varies after-mstalla which there is a 12) is placed at such a ience'of the drawings I have shown a flexible governor shaft M, an ordinary metal shaft may be used. And further the trip levers p, p and 19 are maintained at a uniform elevation with relation to the rails n.

For operating the levers p, p and p I place on the ties R, where it is desired to stop trains at stations, a manually operated trip Sfwhich is pivoted in a-frame S, and under this trip S, I secure a crank S which is secured upon a shaft S suitably supported upon the ties R. Between the crank S and the trip S, a link 8, is pivoted, so that when it is desired to stop the train at that station the shaft S is operated to raise the trip S, upward as shown in Fig. 11, so that it will engage the lever p, which, through the bell-crank lever P, and wire J, will pull the rods H and G, downward, and then 0perate the valves 05 and D thereby causing the train to stop as hereinbefore described. Now, it may be that at some point on the road it is desired that the train shall not run at, say twenty-five miles an hour. In that case, a stationary trip T, (see Figs. 11 and place, in a position where it will engage the lever p, the cambar Z on the plate L being adjusted for that speed. Now, if the train is running at twenty-five miles an hour, the governor M, will lower the plate L sothat the cam-bar Z will, through the intermediate mechanism hereinbefore described, move the bar G on the vertical rod G, toward the verv tical rod G the lever 10, engaging the trip T, will, through the bell crank lever P, and wire J, cause the train to stop as hereinbefore described. And again, if at another point of the road it is deemed that a speed of say thirty-five miles an hour is dangerous, a stationary trip T, is placed at such a point in a position to engage the lever 19 the cam-bar Z on the plate L being adjusted for that speed; if the train is running at thirty-five miles an hour when the lever p engages the trip T, the same operation of mechanism takes place and the train is stopped. 1

In the case of all stops due to the operation of mechanism hereinbefore described,

. the crank F,on the rock-shaft F, will have to be manually reversed to its normal position as shown by full lines in the train can be started.

Having thus fully described my invention and the construction and operation of suitable mechanism for embodying it, what I claim as new and desire Patent, is

1. In an apparatus of the character described, a throttle-valve stem having a notch therein, a latch-block slidably mounted thereon, a latch-bolt slidably mounted in said block and adapted to enter the notch in said valve-stem, a yoke 'secured on said latchto secure by Letters- Fig. 10, before block, to support the outer end of said latchbolt, a shoulder on said latch-bolt, a spring between said yoke and said shoulder to normally maintain said latch-bolt in said notch, a rock-lever adapted to engage said shoulder to raise said latch-bolt out of engagement with said notch, and pneumatic mechanism to operate said rock-lever substantially as set forth.

2. In an apparatus of the character de scribed, a throttle-valve-stem, cylinder and piston mechanism adapted to actuate said valve-stem to close the valve connected therewith, a piston valve adapted to be actuated by air to admitair to said cylinder and piston mechanism, a stem on said pistonvalve, an air escape valve communicating with the train air pipe adapted to be engaged and opened by the stem on said piston-valve, and means to admit air to said piston-valve when desired, substantially as described.

3. In an apparatus of the character de-. scribed, a throttle-valve-stem,cylinder and piston mechanism to actuate said valve-stem to close the valve connected therewith, a valve-housing having a valve-chamber therein, an inlet valve toadmit air into said chamber, a spring pressed outlet valve in said chamber at right angles to said inlet valve to allow air to exhaust therefrom,

, said cylinder and piston mechanism, substantially as set forth.

4. In an apparatus of the character described, a valve mechanism comprising substantially a chamber, a valve seated exterior to said chamber to admit air thereinto, a spring pressed valve seated within said chamber at right angles to said inlet valve adapted to permit air to escape therefrom, a lever mounted within said chamber and connected with each of said valves and adapted to close said exhaust valve and' open said admission valve, and means to operate said lever, substantially as set forth.

5. In an apparatus of the character described, a cylinder and piston mechanism for closing the throttle-valve of a locomotive, a pneumatic valve adapted to be actuated to admit air to said cylinder and piston mechanism,- an air-escape valve adapted to be opened by said pneumat1c valve, means to admit air to said pneumatic valve, a diaphragm chamber, an air connection' from the train pipe to said diasion of said spring, and an air connection' between the opposite side of said diaphragm chamber and the main source of air supply, substantially as set forth.

6. In an apparatus of the-character described, pneumatic mechanism adapted to close the throttle-valve of; a locomotive, a pipe connected thereto and leading to a source of compressed air, a valve mechanism therein to control the admission of air to said pneumatic mechanism, lever mechanism to actuate said valve mechanism, a vertical spring pressed slide means on said slide adapted to operate said lever mechanism, a second spring pressed slide trip actuated mechanism, means to connect said second spring-pressed slide with said trip-actuated mechanism, means on said second spring pressed slide to en age said first mentioned spring pressed sli e and a trip located on a rail-road track adapted to engage and actuate said trip actuated mechanism, substantially as set forth. 7. In an apparatus of the class described, pneumatic mechanism adapted to close the throttle-valve of a locomotive, valve mechanism adapted to control the admission of air to said pneumatic mechanism, spring pressed slide mechanism, trip actuated mechanism, means to connect said trip actuated mechanism with said spring pressed slide mechanism, speed controlled selective mechanism adapted to be engaged by said spring-pressed slide mechanism, and lever mechanism adapted to be actuated by said selective mechanism to operate said valve mechanism to admit air to said pneumatic mechanism, substantially as set forth.

8. The combination in a speed-selective mechanism of an air-controlling valve, lever mechanism to actuate said valve, a springpressed slide, a lateral projection mounted on said slide, a second spring-pressed slide adjacent to the first mentioned slide, a

transverse sliding pin mounted therein, a spring-pressed bar pivoted upon and parallel with said second spring pressed slide and contacting with said pin, a horizontal spring-pressed slide mechanism engaging the opposite end of said pin, a swinging 5 vertical bar engaging the opposite end of said horizontal slide mechanism, a shoulder on said bar, a vertically movable cam-bar adapted to engage said shoulder, a centrifugal governor mechanism ada ted to con- 5 trol the movement of said camar, and trip mechanism adapted to actuate said first one direction by said cam-bar, a vertical spring-pressed slide, a transverse slidable pin therein adapted to be operated by said horizontal spring-pressed slide, a spring: pressed swinging bar on said vertical springpressed slide engaging said transverse pin to operate the same in the opposite direction, a valve, lever mechanism adapted to actuate said valve, means on said vertical slide to engage and actuate said lever mechanism, a spring-pressed trip actuated slide, 7 a lateral projection mounted thereon adapted to engage the swinging bar on the, first mentioned vertical slide when said bar has been moved toward the trip actuated slide by the governor controlled mechanism, substantially as set forth. .4

10. In a speed-selective. mechanism, a valve, lever mechanism to operate the same, governor controlled and trip actuated mechanism adapted to actuate said lever mechanism to open said valve, and mechanism including spring actuated crank and shaft mechanism adapted to maintain said valve open until manually released, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I -aflix my signature, in presence of two wltnesses.

CLAYTON A. BROOKS.

Witnesses:

. P. V. Grrrom),

H. M. Srononon. 

